Alternating-current rectifier.



H. B. SNELL.

ALTERNAHNG CURRENTRECTIFIER.

APPLICAT ION FILED FEB. 3, I916.

1 ,'326,698. 3 Patented Dec. 30,1919.

UNITED STATES 4 r TENT OFFICE.

HARRY B. SNELL, or SOUTH BEND, INDIANA, ASSIGNOR or ONE-FOURTH T0WILLIAM HOWARD EDWARDS AND ONE-FOURTH TO FRANK E. WHITEHALL, BOTH OFSOUTH BEND, INDIANA.

ALrEmvArme-oURRE r RECTIFIER.

Specification of Le ters Patent .Batented Dec. 30, 1919.

hpplication filed February. a, 1916. Serial No. 75,007.

To all whom it may concern." Be it known that-I, HARRY B. SNELL, a c1t1-zen of the United States,'residing at South Bend, in the county of St.Joseph and State of Indiana, have invented certain'new and usefulImprovements in Alternating-(lurrent Rectifiers, of which the followingis a specification.

My invention relates to nnprovements 111 alternating current rectifiersmore especlally adapted to Ford automobiles and t appertainsspecifically to the features pointed out in the annexed claims.

The urpose of my invention 1s to provide a rectifying system that willchange the alternating current from multipolar or other magnetos into aunidirectional current suit-' able. for charging storage batteries incon nection with automobile service; that will automatically controlitself without the use of automatic cut outs, voltage switches, etc;that will provide a separate storage capacity for each sign of the A. C.magneto 4 current; that will use the magneto current changing contactsWit efiicientl at all changes of periodicity; and that wil positively snchronize .the pole the periodicity of the current impulses.

With these and other ends in View I illustrate in the accompan ingdrawing such an instance of adaptation as w1ll ,dls close thefundamental featureswithout l1m1t1ng myself to the specific detailsshown.

ed to change both sides of the current through complicated du lexcontacts, etc, for each sign or throng a simple electrical vibrator thateffectively collects one sign only of the current and ignores the other.With my system both signs are completely used without having recourse tocomplex mechanisms v Figure 1- is a diagrammatic view of theinterrelated mechanism and circuits.

Fig. 2- is a. plan view, partly diagrammatic of a mechanical synchronouspolechanger. i

Fig. 3 is a diagrammatic view of Fig, 2 in a different setting.

Fig. 4- is an elevation is section of the assembled parts of a completeapparatus also showing the usual distributor mechanism attached to arectifier.

y In carrying out my invention provide a fiber disk 22 havlng teeth 29formed. on its periphery. It is secured on shaft? by means of pins 23 soasfito rotate with it.

The disk or cam as it might be called has 16 teeth-Which correspond withthe poles of the magneto 1. It is rotated in mechanical synchronism'with the rotation of the "magneto which is secured to the main shaft 3of engine 2. The usual 2:1 gears connect the cam or valve shaft 4 to theshaft 3.

Miter gears. 5 connect the vertical shaft 7 to shaft 4. This verticalshaft has bearing in the bracket 6. At its upper end this bracket has aslot 8 formed therein beneath'hub 10.

' From this it will be seen'that the teeth 29 of cam 22 will accommodateeight impulses of a positive-sign and-eight impulses of a block 28 withits attached arms 55 and 56 has movement. From this point the cur- .renttraverses spring 44, platinum contact 34 and the positive contact screw"36 of bind ng post 46 which is connected to the posltive terminal 49 ofthe" positive half 42 of the storage battery 40 by wire 53 because the Vshaped shoe 30 of'arm 56 is at the bottom of the groove between twoteeth 29 as shown in Fig. 3. This position of the shoe causes limitprojection 31 of arm 56 to hold spring 44 away from the negative screw35. The positive currents enter the battery as stated and pass throughleaving their electrolytic effect on the battery plates and leave thebattery] over negative terminal 48 and thence to the neutral terminal 47line 50 to ground and back to magneto 1 thus completing the circuit forevery positive sign of the currents, whenever shoe 30 is foundbetweentwo teeth 29 of disk 22 through a pull of spring '54 attached to theinterrupter arm 56.

The negative currents generated by the magneto 1 pass byway o 0 groundwire 50 f to the neutral terminal 47, thence to the posi-.

tive terminal 49 through the battery leaving their charge on the platesof thenegative half '41 of the battery 40- They pass 'out over negativeterminal 48, and wire -52 to" terminal 45 of contact screw 35, thenceover platinum contact 34 and spring 44 as shown in Fig. 2, the return tomagneto 1 being over wire 51. This is brought about when shoe 30 is ontop of a tooth 29 of disk 22 and the arm 56 has moved farther from thecenter of the disk 22, leaving its limit end 31 away from spring 44 thuspermitting the spring to contact with screw 35; At the 7 same time arm55 through its limit end 31 holds spring 44 away from contact screw 36,

In order that springs 44 and 44 do not set up independent vibrations,arms 55 and 56 have limit stops 33 adapted to prevent any excessivemovement of the springs. Arms 55 and 56 are secured to block 28 byscrews 32. Wires 50 and 51 serve for both negative and positivecurrents,

The interrupter arms are pivoted to pin 27, see Fig. 4 which isinsulated from the base 12. This base has a' downward projection 13 thatextends into hub 10 of bracket ,6. It has a groove 14 engaged by setscrew working amplitude. After this position has been found set screw 11is tightened and the parts are thereby held in continuous workingrelation. If the position of the contacts was changed so that a zeropoint of the current wave coincided with the moment of contact, nocurrent would be found in lines 52 and 53.

This device is more especially designed for automobile use and it isvery important that the synchronizing be accomplished speedily, withouttrialand error annoyances I involved in repeated starting, testing,stopping, etc, to this end the adjustment must be made while the camdisk 22 is rotating at full speed. iVithout this provision it ispractically impossible to secure the proper working relation of theinterruptions produced by the cam to the periodicity of the alternatlngcurrent supplied by the magneto 1'. These features while more especiallyadapted to automobile uses are also available for stationary powerplants, in which this facility for quickly adjusting the synchronizingrelation is valuable because an expert electrician is not required toset the rectifying device into operation.

A slip joint or coupling on the shaft 3 if made in two parts, or theshifting of a pinned bevel gear 5 to secure synchronism would be animpracticable expedient becaus it could only be doneguessed atwhen theparts remained at rest. The delicacy of this adjustment will be apparentwhen it is recalled that in systems known to the prior art only aboutone-fourth as many breaks are set up per each revolution of the camshaft as in my system, consequently such means as might serve the priorart would be practically worthless in this system. The setting of thecontacts at the proper point with relation to the teeth of the cam andth inflexible relation of the position of these teeth to the peaks ofthe positive and negative portions of the waves is a matter ofrefinement and delicacy of operation, without which the services of anexpert would invariably be required, but with the provision hereininstanced the problem is relatively an easy one for even aninexperienced person to solve.

Battery 40 may serve the usual lamps 57 simultaneously because of itsrelative low internal resistance in comparison to that of the lamps. Itis also available for ignition purposes through the usual form ofdistributer, inclosed in casing 16 and coils 58 suitably connected tothe several spark plugs of the engine. A cover 15 having a clearancehole for 24 is placed on base 12 and on it rests the distributer casing16 as shown in Fig. 4.

Shaft 7 imparts movement to the distrib uter arm 19 pivoted at 59 to hub21 whichis secured to an extension 26 indirectly attached to shaft 7 asfollows: An insulated cap or bushing 25 is placed over the end of .theshaft 7 and over this is placed the socket end 24 of extension 26. Ithas a suitable 19 carries contact wheel 18 which is held against theinner face of casing 16 by spring 20 in the usual manner. segments 17onefor each cylinder-as it is carried around by shaft 7; Each segment 17 isconnected to a binding post 39 for each spark plug.

A current path to 24, 21, 18 and 17 is provided over contact spring 38which engages 24. This spring is secured to insulated terminal 37 whichin the instance shown leads to the negative terminal 48 of the battery.The casing 16 with base cover 15 is held on 12 a ainst accidentaldisplacement in any suita le manner without interfering with the freemovement of the casing to and fro under the control of a spark advanceand retard rod 60 whose control lever is usually found on the steeringwheel.

lVith this arrangement of parts a highly plexity of so called rectifierswhich depend Wheel 18 engages on ielectromagnets for their'synchronousaction with the fundamental periodicity of the generator. i

What I claim is,

1. A source of alternating currents, a rotative vibrator cam, a storagebattery, comprising two distinct groups of equal working potential,means adapted through the movement of the cam to automatically directimpulses of positive sign to the positive terminal of the battery andimpulses, of negative sign to the negative terminal of said bat tery,means adapted to ground the battery groups over a connection common toboth, means adapted to adjust the vibrations produced by t e cam intosynchronism with the alternating current while the parts are in motion,and means for locking the same after the adjustment has been made. 2.The combination with a source of alternating current, of a fixed contactmem-' ber connected to each terminal of said source, a movable memberadapted to move between the fixed contacts, a rotatable cam adapted toactuate the movable member, means for rotating the'cam synchronouslywith the alternating current whereby the movable member is caused tovibratecasynchronously with said alternating current source, mean foradjusting the position of the cam and movable member with respect toeach other while the cam is being rotated to secure such .synchronism,and means for maintaining the same.

3. In automobile automatic lighting systems, an engine, an alternatingcurrent magneto operated thereby, a cam rotated by the engine,projections on the cam coordinated with the periodicity of thealternating current, a two section storage battery, a moving memberoperated by the cam, stationary contacts'adjacent the said member, connections therefrom to the battery, a ground connection common to bothsections of the battery, and means for adjusting the time of p 7 contactinto synchronism with the alternatmg current while the cam is undernormal rotation whereby impulses of positive ign will be directed to thepositive terminal of the battery and impulses of negative sign to thenegativeterminal thereof.

4. In current rectifiers, a source of alternating current, means forimparting motion thereto, a plurality of contacts, means for opening andclosing the same, means for mechanically synchronizing the control ofthe contacts with the. periodicity of the current while the parts areinfll motion, a battery comprising independent storage capacity for eachsign of the alternating current,-

and suitable connections therefrom .toft'he;

synchronized contacts.

5. A mechanically vibrating arm;- a'z-suitable pivot therefor,independent contacts" maximum amplitude of each sign of the currentwave, a storage battery. having separate positive and negative sections,connections therefronito the respective contacts whereby the positiveimpulses are stored in one section and the negative impulses intheVSOother section, and suitable connections -bev tween them adapted to lacethemyin series with each other forischarge. In testimony whereof I aflixmy signature in presence of two witnesses.

HARRY B. SNELL. Witnesses: H. F. Rosrrsn,

VGEO. J. Mamm

